Overnight Take Over

In a large open field, a giant carriage being pulled by an equally large brown bear was charging forward. The bear was at full sprint yet the carriage being pulled behind was barely wobbling, with only the wheels going crazy as they bob up and down and shake a lot.

The bear was obviously Bjorne and the carriage was obviously housing Fen Chang and his group as they make their way through the empire. The carriage was something he had made during his month seclusion, and had it built so Bjorne could pull it at full speed without them being thrown around inside.

It has already been a month since they left and they still have a further week till they reach the edge of the empire. Inside the carriage Chang and his women are happily talking. A knock on the window interrupts them however.

It was a small bird no bigger than a palm and had feathers as blue as the sky, that seem to be slowly changing colour to match the brown colour of the wooden carriage.

They opened the window and the bird flew in. It landed on the giant table that has a map covering it. The inside of the carriage is very large for something mobile. There is a large bed enough to fit 8 people, a lounge with 2 couches, a small kitchen and a large table with some chairs around it.

He moves off the sofa to go check with the bird as it is chirping, as if to draw is attention. When he looked at the bird it starts pecking at a place on the map. It was along a marked-out dirt road through a large open plain.

He looks at the location and pets the birds head. "Good job finding our exact location. You can go get some treats."

It chirped and left through a small hole at the back into a separate small compartment. Yan Yin came up behind him while he was looking at the map.

"Master have you found our exact location?"

"Yes, the scout bird did it job perfectly. It learned the route and by using the map and its land marks it pinpointed our location. Although we knew the rough place we are at, we have had to make many detours and gone off course a few times. So it was a good test for the scout birds.

We are nearing the last big town within the empire. After that we have a 4 day trip before we reach the border zone between our empire and the Xiangling Empire.

We will stop at this town for a few days to look around for talents and orphans. It has a very high homeless and orphan rate due to it being near the Xiangling empire which is our main enemies. The town is often attacked, used as a base and last-minute troop are recruited there. Leaving many children without parents, and the ones who survive injured or without renown for their efforts and cast out.

Due to the way our empire treated the people of this town, it is now mostly filled with crime, bases for spy's and people with thoughts of rebellion. Father has tried to help the people of the town but they refuse help, blaming him for what happened to them. Even though it was the previous more corrupt nobles in charge of this area that caused the problems."

Many of the women's faces became downcast as they remembered their past and the words their new friends have made who where similarly from the streets as the people in this town.

He see's all of them having a more down mood so he reassures them. "As I said, we are there for talents and people with potential. Meaning we will be taking most of the orphans with us and give them a better life under me. Same with war veterans still left, they are useful pawns and teachers.

As for the crime organisations, they have already been taken over by my own, and the spy bases are on constant watch and are being secretly fed fake information.

Rebels are easy to deal with. My crime organisation with the town is already prepared at anytime to capture the leaders of each group so I can enslave them and have them lead the groups in different directions. So overall we are going to be helping the towns people, so no need to feel down cast.

Finally, although it is alright to feel bad for these people, I do as well. We can't let it affect our hearts as that is a sign of weak mentality and could affect our future as cultivators if we are unable to keep such simple emotions in check. Guilt and pity like this can eat away at a person's heart, remember that."

They nodded their heads in agreement of how they are helping the people and that they need to learn to be better with controlling emotions like pity and guilt.

Although they are smiling, he can feel its somewhat forced. 'I guess its still too soon for them to put down their feelings of guilt. I know that Sing Wei, Cai Gengxin and Ding Chin all came from family's that caused similar problems and possibly had a hand in this. They have no feelings towards their family's but still consider themselves part of the family. So, they feel guilty for any unnecessary suffering their families have caused.

Hopefully during this trip, they steady their hearts and grow up a little. Keeping them in the internal world like I did probably caused them to unconsciously store away painful memories of the dark side of the world.'

They continued their journey to the town, taking only a few days to arrive. The large bear and carriage drew the attention of the crowd. They all wondered who was inside it and what background they came from to have such a powerful creature pull the carriage.

Naturally the spy groups stationed here also took note of it, and were very suspicious. The rebellion group was less interested as their only goal was to take down the empire, so people visiting the town was of no interest to them.

The carriage continued down the street until it stopped outside the best hotel in town. It was a grand building decorated with white and gold materials with guards stationed outside. The hotel was called Heavens Residence and was a small off shoot of a large chain of hotels stationed throughout all 3 empires. It was backed by the Divine Grace Temple, which was the most powerful sect on the continent.

Although he knows the Divine Grace Temple isn't as good as it seems, that doesn't stop him from using their buisnesses since later on he plans to destroy the sect. So, money he spends, will eventually be gotten back.

He asked for the best room available and under the eyes of everyone himself and his girls where escorted to their room.

It didn't take long while waiting in his room before a knock on the door was heard. Yan Yin still liking to be his maid opens the door for him and allows the guest to enter.

An neatly dressed middle aged man walks in with his hands behind his back and a bright smile on his face. Once the door was closed Fen Chang spoke.

"The room is secure; you can stop the act now."

Like a demon being unsealed the man's previously friendly expression turned indifferent and a weak aura of blood lust was being released. His women including Yan Yin got on guard and started to release Qi ready to attack.

Surprising them, the man goes to the floor on one knee speaking in a dead voice. "Master all people are in place to quietly kidnap the leaders of the resistance, and the spy groups from the Xiangling empire, Woeful Demon Sect and the manager of the Divine Grace's Hotel."

They lower their guard as they realise, he was one of their master's people. He himself neve had his guard raised in the first place as this was someone, he had already personally enslaved a while back and who he had assigned to take over the underworld here and make preparations for his plans, which he had sent a while ago through messenger birds.

"Good, at night commence the operation. I caused a large ruckus earlier so each group likely sent out some of the more elites to gather information, so the leaders should be less guarded. Remember it had to be done quietly and swiftly. I want them grabbed and to me within 10 minutes so I can do a quick seal, give them orders and send them back before anyone realises.

Although I could enslave the whole group, that would be too much effort and take too much time. It would be better to just enslave the leaders and have them slowly convert people to my side and steer the information in the direction I want it to go. If anyone does get in the way, knock them out and I can enslave them as well."

The man gave a salute and left with a kind smile back on his face and bloodlust completely hidden.

His evening continued out like a normal person, with him having a nice dinner cooked by his women followed by some pleasure to end of the day.

Opposite to his relaxing evening the town was unknowingly turned upside down as each of the leaders and top brass of the largest groups within the town where silently kidnapped and the replaced not long after with an enslaved version with a new mission. To serve Fen Chang.